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Whether you are traveling abroad to do volunteer work or to take the leisurely vacation of your dreams, the possibility of being robbed is unfortunately always present. Thieves watch for particular traits in people and single them out; try not to dress to flashy, to wear expensive jewelry, or to flash fancy cell phones or large amounts of money around during your trip abroad. Sometimes the thing that singles you out is something you can’t help, such as your ethnicity.
If you do end up being robbed despite your best efforts not to look like a target, always have a backup plan for what to do. Here are the steps that you should take after a robbery:
- Get out of the area. This is especially important if you were robbed somewhere isolated or during the night — get out of danger before you do anything else.
- Go to the local police station and report your stolen items in detail. If you can’t speak the local language, skip to step 3 instead.
- Go to the local embassy or consulate. Both are havens for travelers in a foreign country; United States embassies are run by United States government officials who can help you replace stolen passports and deactivate stolen credit cards. Embassies will often even give you travel money to get home if your money was all stolen by the thieves.
- If you didn’t visit the police station before, do so now. The embassy or consulate should help you with language barriers that might get in the way of reporting the theft to the local authorities.
Having a plan is always an asset, especially when traveling abroad.
